
Book L 'T^ fJ^ 



PRi;sKNTi:n nv 



Historical SKctch 



OF THE LIFE OF 



Edward Biddle Latch 



By WILLIAM D. ASHWORTH 



PRESS OF 

The Gazette Printing House 
frankford, phila., pa. 

—1911— 



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AUG - 19|t 



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lam Nmt. 15. 1333. Wxeb April 2. 19U, 



Historical Sketch 

of the Life of 

EDWARD BIDDLE LATCH 



By WILLIAM D. ASHWORTH 

Edward Biddle Latch, Chief Engineer U. S. N. (relative 
rank Commander), was born November 15, 1833, '^^ his father's 
farm on old Lancaster road, Lower Merion township. Montgom- 
ery county, a short distance above the present city, on Philadel- 
phia county line. On the above date was recorded the greatest 
fall of meteors and shooting stars in history, and visible mainly 
to the people of the North American Continent and more partic- 
ularly to those in the latitude of Philadelphia. 

He was the ninth child of a family of ten children. 
His father, Gardiner Latch, was a veteran of the War 
of 1812, and his mother, Henrietta Wakeling Latch, a member 
of the Wakeling family of Frankford, widely known as pioneers 
in the bookbinding trade in the United States. His grandfather, 
Jacob Latch, was a soldier in Washington's army during the 
American Revolution, and his home is still standing, on old 
Lancaster road, opposite to the home built by his son, Gardiner, 
and the home of Edward Biddle Latch. His ancestors on his 
father's side came to America with William Penn in 1699, his 
claim for an American ancestry, through this branch, going back 
over 200 years. On his mother's side the Wakelings were en- 
gaged in business on the famous Pater Noster Row, London, 
Eng. Another branch of her family, the De Monceau, was 
driven from France by religious persecution, and settled in Eng- 
land and engaged in silk weaving, samples of their work are now 
in possession of Mr. Latch's relatives. He received his early 
education in the public schools of Frankford, Philadelphia. In 
185 1 at 18 years of age he entered the employ of the Norris 
Locomotive Works as an apprentice in the machine shop. He 



5II?r (Srratrr Sltglyt 

remained with this company for six years, learning thoroughly 
the construction of locomotives and other machinery. He became 
a most proficient draughtsman and designer; some drawings, 
now in possession of the writer of this article, are beautiful speci- 
mens of hand work; the lines appear as if engraved by a skilled 
artist; one shaded India ink drawing of a locomotive engine, 
made while an apprentice, looks like a fine copperplate engrav- 
ing. After leaving Mr. Norris' shop he secured a position in 
Trenton, N. J., and while there employed he received word from 
Mr. Norris that he desired him to enter the United States navy 
as an engineer. He yielded to Mr. Norris' request, and was ap- 
pomted a third assistant engineer on September 20, 1858. He 
was attached to the U. S. steamship "Atlanta," Paraguay ex- 
pedition, 1858-1859; this voyage gave him a chance to visit the 
countries on the Atlantic coast of South America and a long trip 
up the Rio de La Plata. He was next attached to the U. S. 
steamer Sumpter, 1 860-1 861, on the west coast of Africa in the 
suppression of the slave trade. He brought home from this voy- 
age many curious objects, picked up from the natives on the 
west coast, such as elephant and hippopotamus teeth, idols of 
worship and many other odd pieces relating to the life of the 
native. A large lot of hippo teeth were being looked over by 
officers of the vessel, and Mr. Latch, making a selection from 
the pile, took a large tooth, and then out of justice to his brother 
officers he took a small one; several years after, in examining 
these teeth, he was surprised to find, upon matching them on the 
grinding surfaces, that they both belonged to the same animal 
and had been opposite teeth in the upper and lower jaws. An 
old coat, swapped with a native, brought him a male gray parrot. 
This bird he brought home, and it lived for over forty years at 
the Latch home. It was an exceptionally fluent talker, with a 
voice perfectly natural like a man. "Bob Latch" was known for 
miles around the country. On coming home from this voyage the 
United States was found in the first stages of the great civil war. 
He returned home and awaited orders, received in the meantime 
his promotion to second assistant. The department having lost 
Mr. Latch's home address, he was unattached for some time and 
then finally appointed after communication was again established 
to the U. S. S. Hartford, then fitting out at Philadelphia. He 
always considered his lost address at that time as a stroke of 
good fortune, as it connected him with Farragut's flagship that 




EDWARD BIDDLE LATCH 

( \i rtsje of 25 years) 

Taken shortly after his Appointment as Third Assistant 

Engineer. 



A ^krJrli nf tijp iCifr nf S^l^ar^ lt^hIr BJatrl) 

was destined to make such a famous record, instead of some 
smaller vessel, such as a monitor or gunboat. The "Hartford" 
left Philadelphia in 1862 as flagship of the West Gulf Scjuadron. 
In the early part of this cruise Chief Engineer Kimball was de- 
tached for special duty at the Neptune Iron Works, New York 
City. Captain, later Rear Admiral, Palmer then placed Second 
Assistant Engineer Latch in charge of the Hartford's engines 
(before Port Hiudson fell), and he remained in charge until the 
vessel steamed into New York harbor, proudly flying the pennant 
of (at that time) Rear Admiral Farragut. This action on the 
part of Captain Palmer showed great confidence in his second 
assistant's ability to handle the engine-room of a flagship so 
actively engaged in fierce fighting. It would have been an easy 
matter for him to have had a chief detached from one of the 
other vessels of the fleet and ordered for duty on board the 
Hartford. 

During his service on the flagship Mr. Latch participated in 
the following engagements : • Forts Jackson, St. Philip and the 
Confederate fleet in the Mississippi River, April 24, 1862; the 
Chalmatte Battery, New Orleans, April 25, 1862; first passage 
of the Vicksburg Batteries, June 28, 1862; second passage of the 
Vicksburg Batteries, July 15, 1862; passage of Port Hudson's 
terrible batteries, March 15, 1863; Grand Gulf, March 19, 1863; 
Warrenton, March 28, 1863; Grand Gulf, March 31, 1863; Forts 
Morgan, Gaines and Powell ; also the Confederate fleet, including 
the rams "Tennessee," "Selma." "Gaines," torpedoes, etc. ; Mo- 
bile Bay, August 5, 1864. When the Confederate ram "Tennes- 
see" was captured Mr. Latch was sent on board to ascertain the 
condition of the engines. On going below he was greeted by a 
familiar voice, and in surprise he recognized the speaker as an 
old chum, a fellow-apprentice at Norris' Works in Philadelphia, 
now chief engineer of the ram. A Southerner by birth, the young 
man had cast his lot with Jefiferson Davis' ill-starred States. It 
is needless to say that Engineer Latch came away with more 'de- 
tailed information than any other man would have been likely 
to secure. He was promoted to first assistant in 1863, and in 
1865-1868 was attached to the U. S. S. Wachusett on the East 
India Station ; a brother officer on this cruise was John W' . Philip, 
afterward famous as the commander of the "Texas" during the 
fight ofif Santiago, Spanish-American War. Several special num- 
bers of a magazine, called "The Illustrated Navy," published 



in honor of Rear Admiral Philip and devoted solely to an histori- 
cal sketch of his career, contained many notes of interest by 
Chief Engmeer Latch covering this voyage of the "Wachusett." 
During this trip and while lying off Shanghai, China, he became 
a member of the Masonic fraternity. He was a member of Cassia 
Lodge, of Ardmore, at the time of his death. On his return 
to the United ^States he brought many beautiful gifts and curios 
from China, Japan and other adjacent countries, and at that 
period they were considered one of the finest private collections 
in Philadelphia, each piece having some history that made it 
more interesting, a grotesque head from the Great Wall of China 
being in front of the writer as these lines are penned. His next 
duty was instructor in the engineering department. Naval Acad- 
emy, Annapolis, 1869-1870. He was promoted to chief engineer 
in 1870, his commission bearing the name of U. S. Grant, then 
President of the United States. He was next attached to the 
U. S. S. Congress, special service, Greenland, and a cruise to 
Europe and the Mediterranean, visiting Egypt, the Pyramids 
and the Holy Land. He was a member of the inspection board, 
1 873- 1 875 ; receiving ship "Colorado," 1876; sick leave, 1876- 1877,' 
and retired in 1878, after twenty years of active service, about 
twelve years of which were spent at sea. After several years of 
complete rest Mr. Latch took up the great work that was to be 
his special study during the next quarter of a century. Having 
notified the Secretary of the Navy of his contemplated task, he 
was given permission, and began writing the "Review of the 
Holy Bible," which was published in 1884. This volume and all 
subsequent works were written without any reference to any other 
work than the King James' translation of the Bible. "Indications 
of Job," "Genesis" and "Exodus" were next in order in 1889- 
1890- 1 892. The Mosaic System of Chronology was originated 
and developed from these writings, and afterward, through many 
years, was used to elucidate the Scriptures and ancient relics of 
many kinds in their relation to and bearing on universal his- 
tory. The first great application of the Mosaic system was to 
unfold the mystery surrounding the Great Pyramid of Egypt. 
The results were published in a pamphlet, entitled "Application of 
the Mosaic System of Chronology in the Elucidation of Mysteries 
Pertaining to the Bible in Stone, known as the Great Pyramid of 
Egypt." This solution proved to be harmonious, and brought out 
many facts that had heretofore not been touched on by the many 



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EDWARD BIDDLE LATCH 

(At age of -10 years) 

This Portrait was taken at Naples, Italy, while 

Chief Engineer of U. S. S. Congress 

1873. 



writers on Egypt's great monument. The writer of this article 
was requested by Mr. Latch to secure for him the data showing 
the heights of the five chambers in the top of the Pyramid. These 
spaces were discovered and measured by Mr. Davidson and Col- 
onel Howard Vyre. Colonel Vyre's work on the subject was 
consulted at the Mercantile Library, Philadelphia, and the meas- 
urements noted. Now, on taking the same to Mr. Latch, he was 
surprised to find that he (Mr. Latch) already had them, he hav-' 
ing assumed that the five chambers represented the first five crea- 
tive days, had taken the years of each day, which he had prev- 
iously computed from the Scriptures, and a simple example in 
proportion had yielded the same measurements, chamber for 
chamber, as the actual dimensions of Colonel Vyre. The pas- 
sages and rooms in the main body of the Pyramid had already 
given figures that agreed with the Mosaic computations for the 
sixth creative day. The date of building the Pyramid was deter- 
mined by him at about i3.>ooo B. C, and the builders the Hidde- 
kelic race, who are described in the Bible as mighty, prudent, sci- 
entific and highly educated ; such a race of people would have 
what_ we call modern machinery and appliances for erecting huge 
buildings, and the task for them was no harder than it would be 
for our builders today. Mr. Albert Ross Parsons, in his mag- 
nificent work, entitled "New Light From the Great Pyramid," 
Metaphysical Publishing Company, New York, 1893, quotes very 
frequently from Mr. Latch's writings, and in speaking of the 
date of building the Pyramid he makes the following remarks 
which we take the liberty to quote : 

"jomard likewise refers to the tradition of their antedeluvian 
date. Meanwhile. Edward B. Latch, in his work, "Indications of 
Genesis," taking for a clue to an occult chronology concealed in 
the Bible the following passage : 

"When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, 
when He separated the Sons of Adam ,He set the bounds of the peo- 
ple according to the numbers of the children of Israel." (Dent, xxxii 8.) 
Exhibits in over fifty diagrams alone, a reach of 31,863 
years, Mr. Latch's premises are derived from the King James' 
translation of the Bible, and his conclusions are given without 
reference to either profane history, tradition or astronomy. Yet 
the most remarkable agreement exists between Latch's chronologi- 
cal epochs and allegories of the Scriptures and the precession of 
the equinoxs through the signs of the Zodiac. When, therefore, 



2Il?r (Srratpr Ciglit 

Latch from Scriptural premises solely is led to place the era of 
the Great Pyramid at between B. C. 12098 and 13465, it is at 
all events a striking coincidence that at that time, in place of the 
inconspicuous Alpha Draconis we should have as the correlative 
of Alcyone of the Pleiades in the Pyramid co-ordination the bril- 
liant star of the first magnitude called "\'ega," which ranks as 
high as fifth among the fifteen largest stars known to astronorav " 
• I he codex Argenteus was the next great application of the 
Mosaic system. The Codex Argenteus page was published in the 
"Outlook" for November 6, 1897, antl was photographed from 
the original volume in Upsula, Sweden. This ancient relic was 
obtained by Mr. W. S. Harwood, of the "Minneapolis Journal" 
for the Outlook Company. Through the courtesy of these gentle- 
men Mr. Latch was allowed to reproduce and use it as a medium 
for the elucidation of its hidden meaning. It was found to be 
full of history, chronology and astronomy, all agreeing with the 
previously found IMosaic standards. The'distances of the planets 
from the sun, their diameters, axial tilts, time of revolution on 
axis, number of moons, etc., were found to agree with the latest 
computations of our best astronomers. The same accurate results 
were obtained for the stars outside the solar system, even to the 
diameter of the Great Celestial Sphere. Figures for many dis- 
tances and movements were obtained on which astronomy is 
silent. "The Mosaic vSystem and the Codex Argenteus" was 
published in pamphlet form in 1890. The American earthworks, 
the work of the mound-builders in the State of Ohio, were found 
to be mainly astronomical in their bearings, and were the subject 
of several articles published in the "Greater Light." The draw- 
ings of Solomon's and Zerubbabel's Temples, from the Mosaic 
interpretation of the text, were most striking exhibitions of archi- 
tectural design, and fourteen plans and views were shown in 
connection with the articles published in the "Greater Light." 
The Rosetta Stone, Stonehenge, England ; the Gettysburg Stone, 
Rock tracings of Norway and Sweden, Peruvian Temples in 
South America and many other relics of lost and forgotten his- 
tory were unfolded and found to be in accord with the IMosaic 
system. The most valued relic in Mr. Latch's possession was 
the cup of universal communion, so named by him on account 
of the hidden meaning brought to light. This cup is of metal 
and very heavy (in regards to its specific gravity) and of most 
ancient design on its figured surface, and it fell into Mr. Latch's 




SOLOMON'S TEMPLE, Sketch L 

Original Drawing and Design by Edward Biddle Latch. 



™'i!iiM"iiiiMiij|,r^ 



SCALE IN CUBITS 



hands in a very remarkable manner. It was first brought to him 
■one smnnier evening by a beggar or tramp, who asked i\Ir. Latch 
to take it, saying he had found the cup by the roadside. On 
examining the article he believed it to be a genuine, valuable 
relic, and being somewhat doubtful of how the man really received 
it he refused to take it, and advised him to take the cup to the 
University of Pennsylvania Museum. The tramp departed, and 
about a year later another man of the same profession appeared 
■and opened the same subject, saying he had seen the first one 
pick the cup up from the roadside. He went away, and the 
matter was almost forgotten, when a third man came two years 
later and told where the cup could be found. Mr. Latch then 
concluded that the relic was certainly intended for him, and going 
to the place described he secured it tor an insignificant sum. The 
workmanship on the various designs and figures show great 
skill, not that of a high-class engraver of this period, but rough 
and artistic. Where it cr.me from or how it got to America will 
probably be forever a mystery. It is fully described in its esoteric 
sense with eight or ten photographs in the "Greater Light." The 
Acacia Block, which he was working on at the time of his death, 
a portion of the manuscript has been published, was brought 
from Joppa, Syria, in 1872, and was given to him by one of the 
officers on the "Congress'' with the remark: "This may be of 
use to you some day." To the casual observer it looks like an 
ordinary block of hard wood, but on closer inspection the mark- 
ings are distinctive, and must have been purposely made. Wheth- 
er its entire history will ever be written only the future can tell. 
In 1899 Mr. Latch decided to establish a magazine in order to 
regularly set forth the many solutions of the Mosaic system in 
its varied applications, and the "Greater Light" was the name 
chosen as best representing the many new theories and facts to 
be set forth. It was a tremendous taSk for the author, not on 
account of the size of the publication, which was comparatively 
small, but the labor in searching and computing, verifying and 
seeking more than one witness to the subject about to be given 
forth to the world. The writer of this sketch was in close touch 
with the author of the "Greater Light" for over thirty years and 
was often called on to witness some remarkable substantiating 
points of similarity between some new subject and one that had 
been previously v^orked out. The scale, to which many of the 
drawings and photographs were made, was the same; thus the 



5>Ijr (Srratrr iCigl^t 
Codex page and .he Centre Tiece, a beautiful piece of artistic 
plaster-of-pans work, ,„ the li^i„g-roo,u of the Latch ho.ne ■ 
.he Communion cup, the Zodical Man, the Greek Biga, the Ameri-' 
can Earthworks and other rehcs, ail bore the same re aln n 
regards to length, breadth, diameter, circumference and cubical 
contents ; th.s ,t must be borne in n.ind was not the work of Mr 
Latch, but existed in the originals and was revealed when the 
Mosa,c key was applied. The Indications of St. John the Divi re 
Paul s Ep.stle .o the Romans, the third book of Moses cal ed 
^e,.t,cus. and the fourth book of Moses, called Numbers w 're 
pubh hed,m thts magazine, beside some three hundred short art,! 
cles, toucmngon h.story. sacred and profane; science, astronomy 
art chronoogy, mathematics, etc.. together with about two hun- 
dred and fifty photographs, drawings and original designs This 
Ihe age of the earth computed by Mr Latch fr,^™ „ 

J ears some of these immense periods of time, calculated from 
entirely indepeiideii. sources, gaye the same figures thus Z 

""im ^Too'^ ''"''' "'''"^'^ ^""^ °- f-» Ae Bible resulted 
m 10L2,56,000 each. The diagram marked "The Great Pyrr 
mid as Allegory ■• shows a few comparisons of these great limits 
of tae The geologists and other scientists haye mad tlei 
computations by careful and laborious study of the earth 'sstata 

"o Oo'o o'or-" """."/ *^"^ ">->-"°ns approximates fbouj 
100 000,000 years. The Mosaic System welds science and the 
Bible in an unbreakable bond. The following table shows at a 
glance the orbital and rotative values of the planets (soTar) as 
accorded by astronomy and by the Codex Argenteus :- 

^ __I Latch Astronomy <-odex Argenteus 

Suppositive J 86 davl Z-^ZZ _^^atch 

Mercury 87 days 86 6"' 24 hrs 22 triin "' "' 

Mars 1% •• ,. It " It :: 3° 

Asteroid «« ,.^3 <, 4 39 

Jupiter 12 <• TO T 
c„r. '2 12. 1 yrs. q " 
Saturn 30 «< 308.' ,^ .. 
Uranus 84 " 8^ 5 " — !_ 
^^?P!li^^____j65^-i6s+33=;,9S* " 



*Male Line 




T ■ J"^ f.°|'7™g passage from Vol. 3, No. 5 of "The Greater 
Light will show how accurate the results were when the Mos'L 
Systems for determining the distances of the planets fiom the Tun 



8 



>;, t < i\ 









CODEX ARGENTEUS PAGE 
(As it appeared in the "Outlook " for November 6th, 1897) 



A ^ktttii of fijp iCifp nf Slimarlr liblilr Slatrli 



was applied to verify the distance of the planet whose orbit is 
beyond Neptune: — ' It may not be out of place to mention here 
that "The Philadelphia Press " of October 20th, 1901, gives 
magnificent illustrations and descriptions of the brilliant theory 
advanced by Prof. George Forbes, M. A., F. R. S of Anderson 
College, Glasgow, in relation to the existence of an ultra-Neptun- 
ian planet. The learned Professor, by abstruse calculation, 
fixes the distance of this planet at 9,300,000,000 miles from the 
sun. As, therefore, the distance of Uranus as Mosaically indi- 
cated by the Law just deducted is 1,859,544,000 miles from the 
sun, so, by this same law, 1,859544000X5 = 9,297,720,000 
miles, thereby corresponding with the approximate distance of 
the Forbe's planet from the sun, which, consequently, by the 
Mosaic law, is the third beyond Uranus. From this stand-point 
another planet is demanded between Neptune and that of Forbes, 
at a distance of 4.648,860,000 miles from the sun." , 

The following table from "New Light from the Great Pyra- 
mid " (A. R. Parsons) shows the remarkable agreement between 
the Mosaic Chronology as computed by Latch and the same per- 
iods as derived from Astronomy : — 



LATCH 


ASTRONOMY 


NOTES 


B.c 29739. Creation of the 


B.C 


32256 


Gemini. 


War in Heaven. 


White or Euphratic race. 




.30103 


Taurus. 




B.C. 23U17. Creation of the 




27951 


Aries. 




Red or Hiddekelic race. 




25798 


Pisces. 




B.C. 21414. Destruction of 




23646 


Aquarius. 




the Euphratic race. 




21494 


Capricornus. 




B.C. 13465. Creation of the 




19342 


Sagittarius. 


1st Destruction. 


Black or Gihonic race. 




17189 


Scorpio. 




B.C. 12098. Destruction of 




15037 


Libra 




the Hiddekelic race. 
B.C. 3897. Creation of the 




12885 
10732 


S."}^'^'- 


2d Destruction. 


Pale or Pisonic race. 




8580 


Cancer 




B c. 2241. Deluge of Noah; 




6428 


Gemini. 




Destruction of the Gihonic 




4275 


Taurus. 




race. 




2123 


Aries. 


3d Destruction. 


A. D. .3808 Era of Destruc- 




29 


Pisces. 




tion. 


A.D 


2181 


Aquarius 


4th Destruction 




>> 


4333 


Capricornus. 





In Harper's Magazine Vol. 58, 1878-79 reference is made, 
in the astronomical notes, to the work of the eminent astronom- 
ers Dr. Watson and Leverrier on the supposed planet Vulcan, 
the existence of which has been affirmed and denied by our as- 
tronomers for years and still remains an unsettled question Dr. 
Watson claims to have seen the planet during an eclipse of the 



sun and Leverrier dnring: its transit across the Sun's disk Lev- 
er ner in computing Che orbit of this globe calls for an axial tilt 
or mclmation of about 12 degrees ; Dr. Watson in his calcula- 
tions claimed a tilt or inclination of about 6 degrees. No suc- 
ceeding researches by these scientists or others have ever proved 
or disproved the truth of their deductions. Twenty years after. 
Mr. Latch m his astronomical reading of the Codex Argenteus 
Page, found that the Mosaic System called for a planet bet Jeen 
Mercury and the Sun he recognized that the tenth member of 

nal^d .'I'^'c "^ '^''"'. ^' '^^ '^""^^ ^^^^^" °^ astronomy. He 
named it the Suppositive Planet and from the Codex Page alone 

By the Mosaic System he calculated its axial and orbitaf p "ds 

H:tutrb^;%~ita^^^^^^ - T " ''-^'-' 

e ---ie- if degU^^ t III nXow^r-of ^rr.^ 
oUateon and Leverrier and never saw any matter printed or 



group 



The Cover Page of " The Greater Light " was designed and 
drawn by Mr. Latch, and is intended to represent the to d 
emerg-ng: from the darkness, of the old teaehings and beLfs and 
beg,nn,„g to be illuminated by the greater li^ht of new i" e'rpre 
tat,ons and d,scoveries in the world's history, and in the ™ 
sense, the h.s.ory of every star, planet and heavenly body^ 
and ,nv,s,ble that constitutes Aggregate Matter. The old theo 

ZZ2T7: T'^'': "-^ ''-'' ""- thetime-wor" /d 
rrayed edges. The diagonal shadow on this na^e ^ho.iM r^ 

over the sphere, also thus showing the entire feU°n part 
chpse ; the m.stake is due the engraver and Mr. Latch decked 
no to have a new block made. The small symbol in the Ic^we, 
left hand comer represents the Triskele with its three subliTe 
rtp^ti'^r^ " "^ ™""" '-^ ^"^'^^ "^ '°°' '^'° ard lu» 

coUegelin' wL"^" " " '"/" *^ ^"""^^' ''braries and 
on th'e "ontitrt • """^ '"'' ™"^^^^ ■" G-^' '^"'-- and 

famii'y'^h"u^Mr Lft^h waTV" 'r°""^^'^<' ^"^ *^ ^atch 
of .he^ine.e;nfh cettrt. Th 'ZserLf;-'''^'^-*'^'' ''" 
the thirty-thtrd year of the n.neteer c t ^ VC hir ;" 



10 




CRNTRHPIKCK IN THE I.ATCH HOML' 
Photosraph of beautiful ar.i.tic plaster of ,r,n. 



roo 



■■• '" '■« -.a.cl, „o,„e.,ead 'Hll.^.ef "" "'''"'"' "^""^ 



as a l^lanispliere. 



by Mr. Latch 



KRtIi!«i!5-^^^-J!il5o^5 




CODEX PLANISPHERE 

Planisphere as derived from the Codex Argenteus Page 
Representing Aggregate Matter. Note the 
striking similarity to the Centre- 
piece on opposite page 



years old he became a Mason ; this order consists of thirty-three 
degrees. The Latch home has thirty-three steps on the main 
stairway from the first to the third floor. Photographs of his 
mother, taken many years ago^ show a shield surrounded by 
thirty-three five-pointed stars, and the Mosaic system of chron- 
ology is divided into thirty-three divisions as covering time from- 
the beginning of the creation to the end of time. Mr. Latch was 
of a quiet, retiring disposition and seldom talked about his works 
and theories to any one unless questioned, and then he would 
talk in a manner most pleasant to listen to ; of an extremely 
kind and generous nature, he was ever ready to extend the hand 
of sympathy and help in a very substantial manner. His doors 
were always open, and after a day spent v/ith him and his sister, 
who was his companion, he having never married, one always 
went away feeling that they had been welcome, and the invitation 
to call again was always extended to all. He was very fond of 
music, and in his younger days an accomplished flute player. As 
a composer he wrote two or three very pretty songs, both words 
and theme. Possessed of a wonderful memory, he at one time 
absorbed the entire contents of a book on geometry in three 
nights in order that he might draw on the subject-matter during 
an examination about to take place. As a mathematician he 
ranked high, being able to solve very difficult problems mentally 
with ease. All literature appealed to him strongly, and he thor- 
oughly enjoyed a good story or joke. He would drop his pen 
and leave his desk at any time to walk through the fields with his 
friends, for he loved nature, the trees, birds, animals, all seemed 
to have their own special mission, and he was able to see it more 
than any one. As an art critic he had few superiors. His in- 
ventive ability in the mechanical line was never at rest. A pat- 
ent was issued just prior to his death on a "lifting device for air- 
ships." He discussed with the writer over twenty-five years ago 
the present wireless telegraph, the present method of flying or 
raising an aeroplane, the submarine boat and later a plan for 
using as a motive power for submarine propulsion an explosive 
that did not require air as one of the factors, the idea being to 
save the air for breathing purposes and dispense with electricity 
as a motive power, thus giving the boat a much greater radius 
of action. Strictly non-sectarian in all of his views, his great 
plans embraced both Pagan and Christian ; in fact, all of the crea- 
tor's creatures or works were included within its scope. His 

11 



SII|r (Srratrr SJigljt 

family were members of the Old Blockley Baptist Church, of 
West Philadelphia, and he always retained his membership in 
the same, and the eloquent tribute paid his memory by Rev. Clar- 
ence Adams, pastor of that church, on the day of his funeral 
will long be remembered by those assembled to pay their last 
respects, "a Christian gentleman of the old school," Mr. Adams 
termed him, and it seemed to cover all the ground without any- 
thing more being added ; as such he was laid away in the family 
vault, in the Lutheran Cemetery at Ardmore, Pa., alongside the 
mother, brothers and sisters he loved so well, and as the soft 
afterglow of an evening sun spreads and lights his tomb so will 
the works of this good man spread and bring joy and peace to 
thousands in the future. Well might the words of Abraham 
Lincoln "With charity toward all and malice toward none," be 
engraved on his monument. Edward Biddle Latch's lifework is 
done. He was a faithful servant to his country and his Maker, 
and there is nothing left for tliose who loved him but memory. 

"For memory is the only thing that grief can call its own." 




12 



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CUP OF UNIVERSAL COMMUNION 
The most valued relic in Mr. Latchs' possession. 



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®l|? Horka of iBimuth MxhhU ICatrli 



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